


Moving in

by pckdrg



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-08
Updated: 2019-09-08
Packaged: 2020-10-12 12:30:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,516
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20564381
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pckdrg/pseuds/pckdrg
Summary: Remus moves in with Sirius in Grimmauld Place (set during Order of the Phoenix).





	Moving in

Sirius sat at the kitchen table at Grimmauld Place, chewing on a toothpick (Remus had shown him this invention in their third year and he had laughed back then, but now he had to admit they were ingenious), reading the Daily Prophet to spot anything about Voldemort or his Death Eaters. Harry was back at school, safely. Dumbledore had ordered him to stay hidden in his parent's house and even though he agreed with him, he felt more trapped than he had ever felt in Azkaban all those years.

Someone knocked on the door. Sirius looked up, confused. Maybe Dumbledore wanted to talk to him. But then he would just send his patronus to send his message. Few people could enter the house, so he wondered who it was. He opened the door and there stood Remus Lupin.

'Remus! What are you doing here?'

'I'm going to stay here for a while, if that's all right with you', Remus said shyly.

Sirius stood there with his mouth open, gazing at him. Then his mouth spread into a grin. 'Course, Moony, come in.'

Remus walked passed him and dropped his bags onto the chairs in the kitchen.

'What happened to your house?' Sirius sat down in front of him.

'Nothing, I just didn't want to live alone at the moment. And seeing as you're alone as well, I thought.. well..'

Sirius smiled. 'I'm glad you came. I am feeling rather miserable here on my own.'

'That's what I thought.'

'You know me too well.'

'I do, indeed.'

Sirius said nothing for a while, but stared out of the window. 'Have you heard from Harry? Is he all right?'

'No, but I'm sure he'll let us now when something's wrong. It's only been a few weeks, Pads. He'll be fine.'

'I know', Sirius sighed. 'But that boy attracts trouble like a lamp attracts flies.'

'Are you sure that's a real expression?' Remus snorted.

'No, I just invented it.'

'I thought so', Remus grinned. 'You haven't changed at all.'

'You really thought a couple of dementors would make all serious and responsible like you?' Sirius sniggered. 'Hell, they'll have to come up with something better than that.'

Remus smiled, because the joke had been the same as the ones he'd made during their school days, but he noticed a flicker of sadness behind Sirius' eyes. He knew Sirius well, he always threw the nonchalant I-don't-care-about-anything attitude when things hurt him. 'I'm also here because I want to talk to you, if you're ready', he said eventually.

Sirius had been expecting this. Of course Remus wanted to talk about it. The patient, loyal and understanding Remus Lupin.

'I'm not sure what there is to say.'

'Well, a lot, I think..' Remus took his hands in his and looked at him. Sirius looked at their hands. 'I've missed you, Sirius. I never thought I'd see you again.'

Tears welled up in Sirius' eyes. 'Nor did I, Rey.'

'So please talk to me about it.. Maybe if we talk it through, we can put it behind us.'

Sirius swallowed. He had refused to talk about it with Dumbledore, who offered to listen as well. Of course he couldn't talk with a Healer, because he was still guilty and on the run in the ministry's eyes. He looked up into Remus' eyes. Perhaps Remus would understand.. Wouldn't judge. They had been friends for so long, and lovers as well, before all went wrong.

He took a big breath. 'We ought to have killed Peter that night in the Shrieking Shack.'

'I know', Remus said bitterly. 'Then again, Harry was right, do you think James would've wanted us to kill him?'

Sirius scoffed. 'Well! I think he would've talked differently if he knew what Peter was up to! Oh never mind, we will never know what James would've thought, thanks to that rat.'

Remus had expected Sirius to go off on Peter Pettigrew, but that was not what he wanted to talk about. 'I know, Sirius. But he'll pay for it. People who do such things won't get away with it in the end, I'm sure of it.'

Sirius said nothing, tears fell from his eyes. Remus stroked his hands. 'But I don't want to talk about him. I want to talk about you.'

'Why? I haven't got anything to tell you, been stuck here on my own the whole time, haven't I?

'How do you manage going from Azkaban to here?'

'This is worse.'

'Don't say that', Remus said pained, because he knew the words were true.

'It is. In Azkaban, I.. I never thought I would get out. I knew I was innocent and that's the only reason I didn't die there. The dementors tried very hard to suck every happy memory out of me. All the happy memories I had with you, and James, they all went away over time. I forgot who I was. The only memories that stayed were the bad ones, the ones I have from living inside this house. Most prisoners screamed the first days, but went quiet eventually. If you have a weak mind, you're gone there.'

Remus felt his heart ache and squeezed Sirius' hands. He tried to fight back the tears that welled up. He couldn't respond.

Sirius looked into Remus' eyes. 'All those years, did you think.. I was guilty?'

Remus desperately wanted to answer no, but he also didn't want to lie to Sirius. He hang his head down. 'I did. I'm so sorry. Please forgive me.'

'I understand, Rey. I'm glad we're here, together, right now', Sirius reassured him.

'I didn't want you to be guilty. I spent days just lying in bed, thinking about everything, crying, and part of me couldn't believe that the Sirius I had known for so many years would betray James and Lily. The Sirius I knew would die instead of betraying them. Put people told me to move on, that there was nothing I could do about it. But I never stopped loving you, I never did.' Remus sighed out and looked into the distance, but nothing in particular really.

'Neither did I, Moony.' Sirius eyes were sincere.

Remus looked back at him. 'Imagine what our future could've been, were it not for Peter. We could've raised Harry together. He would've had a happy childhood, and we would've had nothing but a happy time raising him.'

Sirius smiled sadly. 'We would've been his gay uncles. It would've been grand.'

'Well, I'm bisexual, but all right-'

'Whatever, Moony.' Sirius rolled his eyes.

'But we can take care of him still, right now. It's a shame I got to know him earlier than you. He may look like James, but he's truly like Lily. He's just such a pure child, accepting everyone and everything, always seeing the good in people, standing up for what is right..'

'We will take care of him. It'll be the last thing I do.' Sirius said.

Remus smiled at him. He stood up and pulled Sirius into a hug. 'I've missed you', he mumbled.

'I've missed you more than you can imagine, Rey.'

They broke apart and Sirius looked at him. 'Did you tell Harry about.. us?'

'What about us?' Remus asked uneasily.

'Well, about us, during school.'

Remus was silent for a few seconds. 'No, I didn't.'

'Why not?'

'Because at that time, both Harry and me still thought you were guilty. I wouldn't make the best impression by telling Harry, who had just met me, that I used to be in a relationship with you. Harry was just starting to trust me, relied onto me as a mentor. I didn't want to ruin that.'

Sirius nodded. 'I understand.. Will you stay here some time, Moony?' he asked with pleading eyes.

'I'll always be there for you, Sirius.' Remus replied, looking into his eyes.

Sirius looked back. There may have been twelve years that had separated them, but it hadn't changed anything between them. He put his hand in Remus' hair and pulled him down. Remus had expected this to happen, and he had intended to say to Sirius that maybe they needed to wait some time, but he couldn't help himself, and kissed Sirius.

After some time, they broke apart and Remus looked down at him. 'Gods, I've missed you, Padfoot.'

Sirius smiled at him. 'It's been twelve years since someone called me that.'

'Far too long', Remus mumbled, while he kissed Sirius again.

'I'm surprised you haven't moved on with somebody else.'

Remus looked at him, puzzled. 'Who would love a werewolf?'

'Who wouldn't? You're an amazing person.'

'Well, my love life has been very.. - how shall I call it? - non-existent the last twelve years.'

Sirius smiled broadly. 'Yeah, whoever is there to swoon about than a convicted criminal in Azkaban?' he grinned, throwing his hands in the air theatrically.

'Well, I was almost beginning to worry that Azkaban had pushed the drama out of Sirius Black, but here I am, clearly wrong.'

Sirius took his hand. 'Let's go upstairs.'

Remus obliged, and followed Sirius to his old bedroom.


End file.
